MIAMI, FL – November 21, 2018 – On Tuesday evening, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) welcomed guests at the museum in celebration of the launch of its newest initiative—PAMM’s Latin American and Latinx Art Fund. Created to support exhibitions and programming at PAMM for Latin American and Latinx artists, this new affiliate group further reflects the museum’s ongoing commitment to diversity and presenting art from historically underrepresented communities including the African diaspora, the Caribbean, Latin America, and US Latinx.

Art lovers, philanthropists, and Miami’s business elite delighted in an evening filled with music, drinks, and mingling in advance of a special program presented by Tobias Ostrander, PAMM Chief Curator, and Rocío Aranda-Alvarado, Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression for the Ford Foundation, who made a very special announcement—a Ford Foundation gift in the amount of $300,000 in support of PAMM’s Latinx programming and upcoming exhibition, Teresita Fernandez: Elemental, scheduled to open in the fall of 2019.

“We are so grateful to the Ford Foundation for their generous commitment to this important new initiative,” said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans. “PAMM is uniquely positioned for the 21st century—a growing institution in a young city that stands at the crossroads of the Americas and this fund will ensure that artists from Latin American and US Latinx communities will always be a part of our museum’s academic dialogue and community programming.”

The Latin American and Latinx Art Fund is open to all PAMM Patron ($2,500) and above-level members. Membership in this affiliate group is an additional $1,000 a year with 100% of funds supporting exhibitions and programming at PAMM related to these artists. Members of the fund gather at one event in the fall and an annual reception in early spring, highlighting PAMM’s efforts surrounding scholarship and the representation of these artists. At the spring meeting, members will vote on which exhibition or program at PAMM to support with membership funds raised during that year.

The main goal for the Latin American and Latinx Art Fund is to continue to support the exhibitions and programming that PAMM has already become known for, including exhibitions by artists such as Firelei Báez, Carlos Motta, Doris Salcedo, Julio LeParc and the upcoming exhibitions of Beatriz Gonzalez (opening spring 2019) and Teresita Fernandez (opening fall 2019).

About PAMM

Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. Led by Director Franklin Sirmans, the nearly 35-year-old South Florida institution formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), Pérez Art Museum Miami opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park on December 4, 2013. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab and classroom spaces. For more information, please visit pamm.org, find us on Facebook (facebook.com/perezartmuseummiami), or follow us on Instagram/Twitter (@pamm).